WINNIPEG -- Blue-line depth is a strength for the Winnipeg Jets, and injuries could test that depth this week.

The Jets skated on Tuesday morning before departing for Toronto, where they will begin a two-game road swing that begins on Wednesday night against the Maple Leafs and continues on Thursday at Ottawa.

Veteran defensemen Ron Hainsey (upper body) departed early in the second period of Monday night's 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins and did not return. Then in the third period, defenseman Mark Stuart took a shot high to his face. Stuart missed a few shifts before returning to finish the game, but departed Tuesday morning's practice early. Both Hainsey and Stuart play key roles on the Winnipeg penalty kill.

Jets coach Claude Noel did not have an updated status on Hainsey and Stuart, but he did indicate he will insert Derek Meech into the Winnipeg lineup against the Maple Leafs. Meech, a Winnipeg native, will make his season debut after not dressing for the club's opening four games.

"Derek has shown he is a good player," Noel said. "He has experience in the League. His skating is his strength. He is a smart player, so I think he is going to have good energy. He has been dying to play, so I think he will get an opportunity."

The Jets did have left wing Evander Kane back on the ice for Tuesday morning's practice. Kane missed Monday's game after taking a puck to his foot last Saturday at Phoenix, but could return against the Maple Leafs.

Noel would not reveal whether goaltender Ondrej Pavelec, who stopped 28 shots against the Penguins, or backup Chris Mason will face the Maple Leafs, though he did tip his hand.

"I have a plan," Noel said of the goaltending situation. "My plan is to talk to [goaltending coach] Wade Flaherty. That's my plan. How would you not want to continue down the road with Pavelec? He played outstanding."

The game against Toronto begins a stretch in which the Jets will play nine of their next 11 games on the road against Eastern Conference opponents. The Jets followed their first win of the season with a practice session that Noel found to be lacking in execution.

"It takes a while to break people of some habits," Noel said. "I do get that."

Edmonton Oilers rookie center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has experienced a lot of firsts in his four-game NHL career.

His fifth contest will introduce him to another one -- the Battle of Alberta.

While Nugent-Hopkins, the first pick of the 2011 Entry Draft, hasn't experienced the clash first hand, he's more than familiar with it, having played his junior hockey in Red Deer, which is situated almost exactly between the two Alberta cities.

"You always watch these games and they're always intense," Nugent-Hopkins said.  "There's obviously a big rivalry between the two teams. It should be really fun."

If Nugent-Hopkins is unsure of what to expect, he can ask teammate Jordan Eberle.

Eberle was introduced to the Battle of Alberta in his first National Hockey League game last season, scoring his first NHL goal -- this highlight-reel beauty -- against Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff. 



"It was a lot of energy in Rexall and probably my fondest memory in the NHL," Eberle said. "Everyone remembers their first goal and that was special to me."

Flames forward Curtis Glencross is hoping to make Nugent-Hopkins' Battle of Alberta debut a little less memorable.

"He's been walking around untouched for a few games," Glencross said. "It's not our style of game. There's a good chance our line will be up against him tonight, so we'll have to get some bangs in early and see how he likes hitting."

The contest could mark the season debuts for players on both sides.

Oilers defenseman Ryan Whitney, recovering from an ankle injury, is expected to be in tonight's lineup, as is Flames center Brendan Morrison, who has been sidelined recovering from surgery to repair a torn knee ligament.

Morrison, who will decide following pre-game warm-ups if he can go, said the Battle of Alberta would be a great way to test his knee.

"It will be a good test," he said. "It's not going to be a pond hockey game out there, I don't think. I'm looking forward to it if I do play. It's going to be a game-time decision here, so I'll prepare like I'm playing and I look forward to it."

If Morrison can't go, expect Roman Horak to take his place.

Flames forward Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond also looks to make his season debut tonight, adding some grit to what should be a physical affair. 

FLAMES
Alex Tanguay - David Moss - Jarome Iginla
Curtis Glencross - Olli Jokinen - Lee Stempniak
Niklas Hagman - Brendan Morrison - Rene Bourque
Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond - Matt Stajan - Tim Jackman

Jay Bouwmeester - Chris Butler
Mark Giordano - Scott Hannan
Cory Sarich - Derek Smith

Miikka Kiprusoff will start in goal, with Henrik Karlsson the backup.

OILERS
Jordan Eberle - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Taylor Hall
Linus Omark - Eric Belanger - Magnus Paajarvi
Ryan Smyth - Shawn Horcoff - Ryan Jones
Ben Eager - Anton Lander - Lennart Petrell

Ladislav Smid - Tom Gilbert
Cam Barker - Ryan Whitney
Andy Sutton - Corey Potter

Nikolai Khabibulin will start in goal, with Devan Dubnyk the backup.

For more on today's game, check out the preview here.

Here are the likely lineups for the Blackhawks and Coyotes game tonight in Phoenix:

COYOTES
Ray Whitney - Daymond Langkow - Shane Doan
Mikkel Boedker - Martin Hanzal - Radim Vrbata
Taylor Pyatt - Boyd Gordon - Lauri Korpikoski
Paul Bissonnette - Petteri Nokelainen - Raffi Torres

Keith Yandle - Derek Morris
Rostislav Klesla - David Schlemko
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Adrian Aucoin

Jason LaBarbera, who has a career 4-0-0 record with a 2.01 goals-against average against the Blackhawks, will start in goal. Mike Smith will be the backup.

BLACKHAWKS
Andrew Brunette - Jonathan Toews - Patrick Sharp
Daniel Carcillo - Patrick Kane - Marian Hossa
Bryan Bickell - Dave Bolland - Michael Frolik
Viktor Stalberg - Marcus Kruger - Jamal Mayers

Duncan Keith - Nick Leddy
Brent Seabrook - Niklas Hjalmarsson
Steve Montador - Sean O'Donnell

Corey Crawford will start in goal, with Ray Emery the backup.

For more on tonight's game, check out the preview here.

The Vancouver Canucks held an optional skate at Rogers Arena this morning, but these are the lines Alain Vigneault will likely trot out against the New York Rangers:

CANUCKS
Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Alexandre Burrows
Chris Higgins - Ryan Kesler - Cody Hodgson
Jannik Hansen - Manny Malhotra - Mikael Samuelsson
Aaron Volpatti - Maxim Lapierre - Dale Weise

Dan Hamhuis - Alexander Edler
Keith Ballard - Kevin Bieksa
Andrew Alberts - Sami Salo

Ryan Kesler is back on the team's second line after sitting out the first five games while rehabbing from offseason hip surgery. Dale Weise was with the Rangers in training camp, but the Canucks claimed him when he was put on waivers.

For the Rangers, Wojtek Wolski (hip) will be a healthy scratch. He'll be replaced by Kris Newbury. Michael Sauer (shoulder) is also out. Here's a look at the what the Rangers will likely do with their lines tonight:

RANGERS
Derek Stepan - Brad Richards - Marian Gaborik
Brandon Dubinsky - Artem Anisimov - Ryan Callahan
Ruslan Fedotenko - Brian Boyle - Brandon Prust
Mike Rupp - Erik Christensen - Kris Newbury

Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi
Michael Del Zotto - Steve Eminger
Tim Erixon - Jeff Woywitka

It will be Roberto Luongo for the Canucks and Henrik Lundqvist for the Rangers between the pipes.

Here's what the lineup for the Washington Capitals likely will look like when they take the ice tonight against the Florida Panthers. The Panthers, who beat the Tampa Bay Lightning last night, didn't skate today, but likely will stick with the same lines with one change -- top prospect Jacob Markstrom likely will play his second NHL game tonight in goal.

Alex Ovechkin - Nicklas Backstrom - Troy Brouwer
Alexander Semin - Marcus Johansson - Mike Knuble
Jason Chimera - Brooks Laich - Joel Ward
Matt Hendricks - Mathieu Perreault - Jeff Halpern

Karl Alzner - John Carlson
Roman Hamrlik - Mike Green
Jeff Schultz - Dennis Wideman

Tomas Vokoun will start in goal, with Dany Sabourin recalled from AHL Hershey to serve as the backup.

For more on tonight's game, check out the preview here.

Here are what the lineups for the Kings and Blues likely will look like tonight when they meet in Los Angeles. It's the Kings' first game at home since a Sept. 25 preseason game against the Ducks.

In addition to the opening-night festivities, the wives and girlfriends of Kings players will sell "Love for Lokomotiv" bracelets near section 103 of Staples Center for $10 each to benefit the families and children of the KHL team members that were killed in a plane crash Sept. 7. 

KINGS
Simon Gagne - Anze Kopitar - Justin Williams
Dustin Penner - Mike Richards - Dustin Brown
Brad Richardson - Jarret Stoll - Ethan Moreau
Kyle Clifford - Trevor Lewis - Trent Hunter

Jack Johnson - Rob Scuderi
Willie Mitchell - Slava Voynov
Alec Martinez - Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick is expected to start in goal, with Jonathan Bernier the backup.

BLUES
Alexander Steen - David Backes - Jamie Langenbrunner
T.J. Oshie - Patrik Berglund - Chris Stewart
Vladimir Sobotka - Jason Arnott - Matt D'Agostini
Evgeny Grachev - Scott Nichol - Chris Porter

Kent Huskins - Alex Pietrangelo
Barret Jackman - Kevin Shattenkirk
Nikita Nikitin - Roman Polak

Jaroslav Halak will start in goal, with Brian Elliott the backup.

For more on the game, check out the preview here.

Jack Johnson ably filled in for teammate Drew Doughty early last season when he had 7 points in the six games that Doughty missed with a concussion.

Kings coach Murray expects Johnson to do the same again with Doughty out 7-10 days with an upper-body injury suffered Saturday in Philadelphia.

"I thought he was a horse of a man there in Philadelphia," Murray said. "He played tremendous. He played with more authority on the puck, really tried to take the game over every time he was on the ice. That was outstanding."

Johnson downplayed his bigger responsibility.

"I don't really feel like I'm being put in a different situation," Johnson said. "It's what I've always done. I'm just going to keep playing (the same way) … hopefully I can play huge minutes each night. That's what I like to do."

Not only is Slava Voynov expected to make his NHL debut as Drew Doughty's replacement, Kings coach Terry Murray has paired him with Doughty's regular partner, Willie Mitchell, and said Voynov will get power-play time.

Murray admittedly has not seen much of Voynov outside of training camp, but Voynov, 21, emerged ahead of fellow prospect Thomas Hickey because he has more offensive upside.

"I look at him as a veteran player getting an opportunity to play, not a player who's coming up just to fill in for an injured player," Murray said.

Alec Martinez was Voynov's partner in the minors and said Voynov has the tools to play at the NHL level.

"He can produce offensively," Martinez said. "He's got a real heavy shot and he can make plays. We had some good times playing together down there, and I think he'll do a great job."

Voynov's English is limited, but Martinez said he picked up the Russian phrase for "D to D" to communicate with him.

Said Martinez, "I’ve used that a few times."

Dustin Penner's injured knee is well enough for him to play in the Los Angeles Kings' home opener tonight against the St. Louis Blues.

Penner left the ice early Monday to have his right knee examined and said this morning that he has soreness, but it won't keep him from playing.

Penner suffered what the team called a contusion when he landed on the knee during a fight with Philadelphia's Zac Rinaldo last Saturday.

"It's built up over time," Penner said. "Landing on it from the fight is just inflammation (and) is causing immobility in my joints. We're working on that diligently now and it should be fine."

Coach Terry Murray has no reservations about putting the power forward in the lineup.

"As long as I hear from the doctors and medical staff that there's no issue there, then I have no problem putting him in at all. I had a meeting with him earlier, and before the practice … I definitely want him in."

Penner fought Rinaldo in response to Rinaldo's hit on Drew Doughty, who is out at least a week with what the team has called an upper-body injury but not a head injury.

Asked if his fighting days would cease, Penner joked, "Dewey (Doughty) on the IR for seven more days, so at least until then."

Here are the likely lineups for tonight's game between the Stars and Blue Jackets in Columbus. The injury to Jeff Carter -- the top-line center was placed on injured reserve with a broken bone in his foot -- means major changes for the Jackets, who are looking for their first win.

STARS
Brenden Morrow - Mike Ribeiro - Michael Ryder
Steve Ott - Jamie Benn - Loui Eriksson
Adam Burish - Vernon Fiddler - Radek Dvorak
Tom Wandell - Jake Dowell - Eric Nystrom

Alex Goligoski - Adam Pardy
Sheldon Souray - Stephane Robidas
Nicklas Grossman - Trevor Daley

Forwards Krystofer Barch and Toby Petersen, and defenseman Mark Fistric will be the scratches

Kari Lehtonen will start in goal, with Andrew Raycroft the backup.

BLUE JACKETS
R.J. Umberger - Derick Brassard - Rick Nash
Vinny Prospal - Antoine Vermette - Alexandre Giroux
Maksim Mayorov - Samuel Pahlsson - Derek Dorsett
Derek MacKenzie - Ryan Johansen - Cody Bass

Fedor Tyutin - David Savard
Radek Martinek - Marc Methot
Kris Russell - Grant Clitsome

Steve Mason will start in goal. Mathieu Corbeil, the Jackets' 2009 fourth-round pick, was called up from Saint John of the QMJHL under emergency conditions to serve as the backup.

For more on tonight's game, check out the preview here.